Roughly one week out from my first trip of the year and it will be quickly followed by a trip to Argentina, and then shortly after, some time in Hawaii. Being that we are only one week away from my work trip and my first time back in the seat with Delta. Feelings about Delta are oddly mixed right now.

Up until this point, experiences with Delta have been less than impressive. When living in Kansas, there were a number of trips with Delta, and every single one of them ended with Delta losing my luggage on my return trip… every single trip, no exaggeration here. Needless to say, the idea of returning to them for any reason, is not something I embrace with open arms… they did even manage to steal a company laptop out of my luggage once too and refused to take responsibility for it. You might be getting an idea now of why I dislike their company so much.

On the other hand, that was a different time, when I actually checked luggage. Likely some of my good experiences with US Airways and American have come from the fact that by not checking my luggage, there is little chance of losing it outside of things that are my own fault. Food is another point that has received good reviews in the past few years regarding Delta. In flight meals have received much higher praise on the Delta side than on American. Being that I’ve requested the vegan meal, we’ll see how well Delta does on this front. Vegan meals out of PHL have been awful… not to mention not vegan at all. Here’s to hoping that meal service out of EWR is far superior to service out of PHL. We shall see how that pans out.

Seating is another point of concern for me. Delta is not a company I have elite status with, and my travels over the past few years have always taken my status into account so that even when flying in economy, I’m able to choose the best seats for my long legs, not to mention their tendency to get painful when immobile for long periods of time (past surgery has caused this issue). So when I see the option to upgrade to Comfort + for $100, It’s a bit tempting. While on one hand it’s an international flight, so getting alcohol is standard… also, I don’t drink. What are the other advantages to their Premium Economy seating? Uhhhh… leg room seems to be about it. Seems a bit weird in my opinion, Delta sells this like a Premium Economy seat, but American’s announcement of Premium Economy shows far better advantages to the seat. Better service, and food for one… yet Delta doesn’t seem to have better food. Do I go with it or not, seeing as I will get no return for the upgrade?

Not sure yet, I’m in two places, first is that I really don’t want to spend money on something I’d get for free on American because of my status. Second is that my company won’t reimburse me for the upgrade so this is a loss for me… but it gains me space and comfort and that might just be worth it. We’ll see what is decided in the next week. Either way, look forward to a review in the near future.